Seriously get it. We are having one of the best seasons on the Yakima. It’s a big snow year and these fish know it. Our trout are taking full advantage if this wicked cold water this year. And they are digging the big flows…they already have big ass shoulders and we haven’t even hit summer time levels!

What do I lean when I put all that out there?  First, the spring has been stupid good even with all the salmon pulses and dirty water. The fish had an amazing spawn this year. And are still going at it. Lots of big breeder fish that are sexually mature adults. This means all spring we’ve been hooking into troutzillas.

Only in the past 10 days have we started to see our juvenile fish hit the fly more regularly.  That’s because the water temp has finally come up to 50 degrees or so, triggering trout metabolism into prime ranges. 52 to 55 is the sweet zone for troots. As the water warms and stabilizes, which it’s doing with all this wonderful snow pack, and we get our 1000 plus fish per mile to eat more regularly. The past 3 months it’s moslty been the larger breeder trout, or adults that wake up earlier for spawning that we’ve had the pleasure of meeting.  Couple that with our wicked hatches of mayflies and skwallas this spring and you had a fucken fantastic early season.

May has been pretty awesome although light on the guiding side. But also expected as we transition to summer. The caddis are herr on thr hot days. And the stones…for a bit longer. Ants are already showing up, fish will eat em soon…Goldens, drakes, and the PMDs are percolating. Fish already picky for yellow. Flows have come up and are stabilizing, as the Teanaway plateaus and starts is summer drop the irrigation demand will increase the mainstream flows. With the high snow pack in the lower Yakima Basin we are having a nice easy transition into summer flows. It’s been years since we have had that. Pre 2015. See why my stoke is high. Record snow fall helps with over 350 inches or some shit.

Needless to say but we have an amazing season ahead of us. We are only a third of the way in. After the year we all had last year some river time does the mind and body good. Pick up a new thing post pandemic, learn a new skill, join a new community if outdoorsy people. Its wicked fun. Anyone can do it, from toddlers to seniors. Like Legos there is no age limit on fly fishing. Fish don’t care about much. Food, cold water, a good presentation, respectful release, and that’s being philosophical, really they don’t care about you, but they will say hi and give you a good shot of adrenaline. Open up the natural world a little bit more. Ease and calm your mind through wild animal chaos. There isn’t much in this world like fly fishing. I’ve done a lot….its singularity and uniqueness is one of its most appealing aspects.

Come share it with me this season. I invite you. Enjoy life and the world outside. We all know we missed it.

See ya riverside.

Tamarack